The Legend of Cynder: The Eternal Night
by DragonLover2468
Summary: Sequel to 'A new beginning' this story is the Legend of Spyro: The eternal night but with Cynder's perspective. I appreciate feedback and thx for reading (if you are).
1. Dream

**This story is a sequel to my other TLoC story. I would very much appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on this story, what you like, what you didn't, what would make it better and how it is compared to the last one. I want to post good stories but I'm very sure I need to improve a lot so any feedback would make my day and help improve my writing. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 1: dream

"Cynder please," a voice made its way into her consciousness, "Cynder, I know you're not like this, I know it."

She knew that voice, it was a voice that brought made her skin tingle with odd feelings. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking in the sudden light that intruded. She was on a grassy hill, around her was a green carpet with dark green trees protruding from it. Bird's chirped in the trees and insects buzzed in lazy circles around her head. She didn't know this place and it seemed too peaceful.

"Spyro, where are you?" Cynder called, looking around her for the purple dragon.

Her roaming gaze found her a cluster of huts. Smoke rose from several of them, rising up to reach the clouds. Cynder tried to take a step towards the buildings when her foot caught on something. She fell and rolled down the hill, she came to a stop on her back and to her surprise, saw that the clouds had darkened considerably. Cynder looked up the hill to see what had tripped her surprise increased, it was Spyro.

Cynder got to her feet and ran up the hill, calling out to Spyro. When she got half-way up, his head turned to look at her.

"Cynder, you don't belong here, you aren't wanted and never will be."

Tears welled up in her eyes as his words struck her, he was probably right though, at least, Sparx thought so. A loud thunderclap boomed above her. Spyro's brilliant purple eyes started to darken and a chilling voice emanated from his open maw.

"Cynder, you have served me well and so I shall spare you the horror that awaits the others."

Cynder took a step back, terrified as Spyro slowly stood up. The clouds started to churn and rain started to drop. The whole world started to get dark as the clouds blotted out the sun and flashes of lightning lit up the sky in its place.

"W-who are you, what did you do to Spyro?"

"Spyro is destined to die, as are all other dragons but me. I can change that and save you too but you have to come back to me first."

A malevolent laugh spewed from his mouth as a bolt of lightning arced down from the sky and struck the village. Screams of fear and pain echoed across the valley. A fire started to spread from a house.

"Come back to me, I will reward you and keep you safe, my minions on their way to come and pick you up."

Wisps of black smoke floated towards her, she tried to move and found she couldn't. She closed her eyes tightly as her heart started to beat faster, Malefor was free and she was the cause of it, she was the cause of the end of the world.

Cynder opened her eyes again and was in darkness, slowly, she started to calm her breathing, it was a dream and nothing else. Yet, she knew that it wasn't just a dream, it was too vivid and lifelike, she had to leave.

Cynder got off the ground, trying to not make a sound and made her way towards the exit. The dragon temple had been the first place she could be herself and be at peace. No one accused her of the wrong she had done while under Malefor's influence, well, everyone except Sparx, Spyro's foster brother. Now, Malefor was awake and everyone will know who had caused his awakening, also, Gaul's apes would be coming after her soon so she had to leave, to protect the others the best she could.

Her claws clicked as the made contact with the hard rock underneath, someone had probably heard her, nevertheless, Cynder continued past the snoring guardians and out into the gardens.

"Cynder, what are you doing out here its dangerous," Spyro called out from behind her.

She turned and looked back at him, his purple eyes looked concerned.

She couldn't leave, she couldn't leave him, but she had to, to save him.

"You shouldn't have followed me Spyro," Her throat started to get dry as the odd feelings bubbled up inside her, "Don't make this harder than it already is."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to understand."

"I'm leaving, I don't belong here. After all that I've done, after all that's happened by my actions, I can't stay here."

"Cynder, no one blames you for what you did, we all know that it wasn't you."

Sparx hovered over Spyro and called out, "I do."

"Sparx..." Spyro furiously whispered to the dragonfly.

"He's right to think that, what if it wasn't just Malefor's influence, what if deep down, I really am like that. Every night, I think about it and every night, I get more and more convinced that I might be," Cynder took a long, sad breath, "Spyro, your destiny is here, your life is here. Everyone likes you and you will succeed here. Me, I'm not meant to be here, my life is somewhere else."

"Cynder, I don't want you to go."

The pent up emotions came forth at those words and she felt tears building up behind her eyes, it just made it harder to leave.

"Goodbye Spyro, maybe someday we will meet again," Cynder turned and ran off behind her, not caring where she went, she just had to get far away from him.

She kept running, Spyro didn't follow thankfully. For several minutes, she ran until she thought she had gone far enough away then stopped. She felt an unquenchable pain in her chest, which throbbed with each beat of her heart. The night was quiet and she closed her eyes, suddenly tired.

Some sixth sense warned her that something bad was going to happen. She looked up to see two apes stalking towards her. She stood up in surprise and got into a ready stance. The first ape rushed at her and she jumped to the side and flicked her tail at him. The ape stumbled past her when the other ape swung a wooden club at her. Cynder moved to get out of the way but wasn't fast enough, the club struck her side and she felt her wing crumple under the blow. Her side was in pain as she fell sideways.

"Captain would like this one, will make some fine fights."

Cynder tried to rise but her limbs failed. An ape raised his club and she remembered it flying towards her head before her vision blacked out and she succumbed to the warm darkness.

**This was the first chapter of the sequel to TLoC: A new beginning. I hope you enjoy it and please give me the feedback.**


	2. Options

**Ok, this chapter has some fighting scenes in it so just be warned. Other than that, enjoy!**

Chapter 2: options

Cynder ran, she ran towards her only hope, Spyro, but the more she moved the further away he got. She was in a dark corridor with wooden walls, odd scratches ran down them. The hallway elongated and she started moving backwards despite the movement of her legs. She got pulled back like something was pulling her tail, she looked back and saw a heavy wooden gate open up behind her. It was pitch black I side as she inevitably got dragged in.

Cynder blinked like an owl caught in bright light as her eyes adjusted to the gloom of her surroundings. She was in a large room made of heavy wooden planks. The ground had an uncomfortable rolling motion that made her uneasy. There were no windows and the only source of light were torches set at periodical spaces along the walls. A stack of hay was piled in a corner and a wooden bowl filled with an odd smelling stew.

Footsteps approached from down the hallway and stopped several rooms from hers.

"See if she's awake, if not wake her, then bring her to Captain Skaab."

Two apes replied in unison, "Yes, sir."

The footsteps resumed and Cynder backed up until she was in the corner, this place terrified her with its unsteady ground and apes for inhabitants. She curled up and peeked through her wings as two apes with swords at their belts stopped outside her cell. One of them pulled out a set of keys on a brass ring and fitted one of them into the lock.

the ape with he keys whispered to the other after unlocking the door, "Be careful, she may be small but she's still a dragon."

The door grated open and the two approached her.

"This is the _terror of the skies_ and Malefor's puppet? She ain't too terrifying."

"I'm not," the sudden conviction in her voice stopped them from moving closer.

Cynder stood up firmly and folded her wings across her back, she stared at them, waiting for their reaction.

The ape to the right laughed suddenly and his mate joined in, "anyway, Captain Skaab wants to see you so you shouldn't keep him waiting."

The other ape took another step forward, "come along, _General."_

The anger from being referred to as the terror of the skies added to it them calling her Malefor's puppet burst forth with that final word, she pushed her fear aside to be replaced by anger and pounced at the ape. She landed on his chest and as he stumbled back, her claws slashed through its throat as she jumped back off it. The ape vanished as coloured gems clicked on the ground, they flew towards her and passed into her, instantly, she felt stronger. The remaining ape drew its sword and swung downwards at her. Still being surprised by her moves before, Cynder didn't have enough time to get out of the way. The sword arced towards her and stopped suddenly as a tail blade, her tail blade, intercepted it. She stopped thinking to let her instincts that had been imbued into her since birth to take over. She pushed the sword away and spun, her tail taking out the ape's legs, and leapt into the air, the ape's sword came up weakly and with a quick flick of her tail sent it spinning out of its hands to clatter on the wooden floor.

Cynder landed atop the ape, her claws pressed up to its neck, "I am not Malefor's puppet!"

The ape had the nerve to chuckle, "this is proof that evil still resides within in you, let it take hold and all will tremble."

A cloud of black smoke rose from the creatures open mouth and dissipated in the air, the ape looked at her in confusion before giving out a loud squeak and struggled against her. She was not evil, Spyro had said so, She pushed her claws down and the ape stopped struggling, or was she.

Cynder raced along the hallway, dodging guards where she could or dealing with them as quickly and silently as possible. She had no idea where she was, it was like a giant maze, but it was better than her cell. Cynder rounded a corner and cursed inwards, two guards had found the leftover gems that she had not absorbed on the ground. An ape cried out behind her and she saw the guards looking at the gems look up and see her. Cynder turned and started to run but stopped when five more apes came running towards her with swords out.

"Come with us, let's see what punishment Skaab has for you prisoner."

Cynder reluctantly went along with them, she had no hope of beating seven guards at once. The apes brought her to a door made of oak, the door was big and intimidating. The lead ape knocked on the door.

"What is it?" A sarcastic voice called out from inside.

"We have the _Her_," the ape replied.

"Why don't you come in then?" A different voice called out this time, more squawky than the last.

The door opened and she was pushed through. A huge ape stood before her, his mouth was drooling and he carried to birds on his shoulders.

The bird on the right spoke, "ahh, our guest is finally awake from her nap."

The other bird spoke next, "are you ready to give us some entertainment, I know we are."

"What do you mean?"

"We mean, you're going to fight in the arena for us."

"I am not going to fight for you."

"Girl, it's kill or be killed, don't disappoint too quickly."

The bird on the right spoke again, it was starting to get really creepy, "take her to the arena, we have a contestant for her."

Cynder could do nothing as she was forced towards the arena, all she could do was rage inside.

**This has been another chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter, Cynder will fight something, but what? I can't tell you since I haven't thought of it myself yet. Thanks for reading and I hope you read the next one.**


	3. Smoker

**Sorry for not writing for so long. It has been a while but I'm trying to not rush this story and instead write it as best as I can. Please enjoy this chapter and try and guess at what plans I may have for this story.**

Chapter 3: Smoker

The large gates were raised and she was pushed inside. Once she took a step in, the heavy gates fell and slammed shut behind her. Cheers sounded around her and Cynder looked up to see hundreds of apes standing and cheering as the captain walked out onto a balcony overlooking the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a great fight for you guys today," The bird perched on Skaab's shoulder announced to everyone, "the contestant that will fight in the first round is a creature of both magical and physical might, she is a dragon!"

The crowd grew even louder as the gates opposite her rumbled open, heavy footsteps came from beyond them.

"The dragons opponent is someone you all love and enjoy, it's The Smoker!"

An odd machine came stomping out to the cheering of the crowd. It walked on four legs and had four arms with various weapons arrayed on the ends. Cynder knew how it got its name for several pipes billowed a cloud of black smoke constantly into the sky. The gates closed behind it and it took several steps in her direction.

Cynder backed away, the thing terrified her, each one of its arms had the chance to kill her and she had no way of fighting it. One of the machine's arms pointed towards her, the one with a metal mace at the end, and it suddenly shot towards her trailing a chain. Only instincts got her out of the way as it flew past where her head had been moments before.

The chain started to pull back the mace and Cynder ran at the chain. Cynder brought her tail down on the chain but it barely made a mark. Whirling noises came from behind her as the machine loomed up behind her, another of its arms swinging towards her. Cynder jumped over the blade attached to the arm and landed, only to find another arm already heading towards her.

Cynder rolled away with great agility and barely dodged the fourth arm as it swung down an axe right in front of her. Cynder's vision was suddenly clouded as a thick loud of smoke surrounded her.

Cynder jumped back when she got flung across the arena. Pain flared up in her side and Cynder glanced up to see the mace and chain slowly getting dragged back to the machine that was moving closer to her. The crowd of apes were cheering madly and the birds on Skaab's shoulder were looking at her smugly.

Something seemed to click inside her, like the machine approaching. She was trained since birth to be a fighting machine, to kill any in her way. Cynder steadily stood up to the awe of the spectators. She closed her eyes and waited, waited for the machine to get closer. A soft click indicated that the mace was ready to fire and she rolled to the side as a rush of wind blew past her from it.

Cynder opened her eyes, they weren't the usual green anymore, they were a swirling bright white void. The sand around her started to stir and soon began to spin around her. The Smoker tried to swing its arms at her but a strong gale force wind pushed its attack away.

Cynder rose off the ground and the spectators went silent as powerful winds spun around her. Sand and smoke mixed with some other objects spun around her as her opponent struggled to rise. It was amazing, she had seemed to lose most, if not, all her elemental powers when she got returned to her natural form. It seemed they were only locked away.

The wind started to draw closer to her, pulling everything, including the Smoker, towards her. Cynder curled up in mid-air and just as everything got close enough suddenly uncurled herself. Everything in the arena and some apes in the closest seats were flung back. The Smoker was sent sailing into the wall on the other side of the arena where it crumpled into a heap of scrap metal.

Cynder instantly felt really tired. She settled down onto the ground and felt her energy deplete rapidly. Her eyes closed and she felt herself drift off into a peaceful sleep.

The gate behind her opened and apes came rushing in but she didn't have the energy to move, much less fight, and wondered where they were taking her.

**Again, sorry this took so long. I've just been a little busy lately and my dad's home on his holiday so I want to spend time with him since I only see him 4 days a fortnight. I probably won't write for a couple of weeks (unless this story gets a great reaction from you viewers) but I will come back to it once my dad's holiday ends. Anyway, thanks for reading.**


	4. Auraling

**I wasn't intending to write for at least a week but I got some good reactions from you readers and my father had gone with my sister to another town for the day so I thought I would write this chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 4: Auraling

The air was cold and damp in her cell. She didn't remember much after the fight, just flashes of images as she went in and out of consciousness. The apes had carried dumped her in this cell and left, no guards, no nothing. Torches seemed to be placed very far away from her cell for only a trickle of light made it in and a constant darkness loomed in the corners of the room, pressing in and enveloping her.

Despite all this, she was ecstatic with excitement, she had used an elemental power. As soon as she had woken up and got her bearings, she had tried to use the power of wind again. She had blown the straw pile in her room everywhere as she unleashed her newly found powers.

Now, she was sitting in her room, waiting for the hours would go by. A door opened up somewhere down the hallway but every time it happened whoever it was would soon leave again and leave her to her misery.

At least at the temple, she could do something, she could go and talk to any of the guardians or to Spyro, she could explore the surrounding wilderness, she could also go and eat something, her stomach wouldn't stop growling.

Footsteps came down the hallway towards her. Cynder rose to her feet as an ape stopped outside her cell, holding a bowl, and placed it on the ground. A broth of some kind was sloshing around in it as the ape pushed it through the bars. The ape abruptly hurried away. Once the doors at the end of the hallway clicked shut, Cynder went over to investigate what was in the bowl.

Cynder leaned down and sniffed at the food, it smelled like fish, then flicked her tongue out and tasted it. It tasted bland and had a tangy aftertaste but her stomach didn't care and she quickly slurped down the food. The door at the end of the hallway crashed open and heavy thudding indicated its approach. Cynder silently moved backwards, afraid of what was coming.

Skaab stopped outside her cell, the bird Scratch looked down at her from his perch.

"I see you've eaten, I hope it was good for it might be the last thing you eat, we have a new contestant for you. Come along nicely or we would have to force you into the arena."

The door to her cell opened and Cynder jumped at Skaab, she would not be taken to the arena to fight again. One of Skaab's meaty hands came up and swatted her out of the air. Cynder landed heavily while the birds looked down at her. Sniff shouted at her as she glared up at them.

"Why didn't you just listen, you fool, follow us nice and easy and nothing happens to you."

Cynder got off the ground and grimaced as pain flared up in her side. Skaab started walking down the hall and Cynder reluctantly followed. She couldn't beat him and trying would only worsen her situation.

Cynder followed obediently as Skaab took her through twisting corridors until she came to the gates into the arena. She dreaded what was to come but she had no choice in the matter, just like with her corruption since birth, she had no control. All her life, others had been making her decisions and the only time she felt like she was in control, was when she was with Spyro. He never forced anything upon her and was always compliant in any request she made, usually to leave her alone.

The more she thought about it, the more she realised she was a bad dragon, a monster. Spyro was always forgiving and always caring and all she could do was push him away and leave him, no wonder others didn't trust her.

A deep rumbling in front of her signalled the doors getting raised. She took a tentative step forward, her body was telling her to run back and hide, but still, she continued. Cynder strode into the ring while apes cheered and she stopped as Scratch started his announcement.

"Hello and welcome everyone. We have another battle for all of you. Our first contestant is the black scaled 'Terror of the Skies', Cynder!" Apes cheered at her name, probably the only time anyone had cheered at her name, "And over on the other side, a creature that literally radiates fear and turns its enemies mad, its an Auraling."

Radiates fear and turns things mad? Cynder already felt scared of it.

The gates opposite her opened agonisingly slowly and a very strange creature crawled out. It was humanoid in shape with a face and two limbs producing from its torso and two from beneath, yet it crawled across the ground on all four limbs with a odd gait. It had a bluish grey skin colour and a hazy cloud seemed to come off it. The most distinctive feature about it though was its face. The face seemed like it was in a dark shadow even in the brightest light. Black hair covered its head and small tentacle-like objects dangled from its chin. The creature's eyes were like blaring headlights in a empty void. It didn't seem to be carrying any weapons as it crept towards her.

Cynder realised that the apes had stopped cheering, in fact, they had gone completely silent. The Auraling came closer, stopping occasionally and looking at her. Cynder retreated from it, her heart pounding. It suddenly pounced at her, its nails had grown longer and they looked razor sharp.

Cynder rolled to the side as it sailed over and flicked her tail at it. Her tail blade missed by mere centimetres. Her vision started to blur as she unintentionally breathed in the unknown vapours coming off the Auraling.

Her enemy backed up slightly as Cynder rushed out of the cloud. She turned back to look at it and a sense of dread overwhelmed her, there were two of them. She blinked her eyes to make sure she was seeing correctly and spotted another one crawling out of the shadows. Confused and afraid, Cynder backed away. Heavy breathing sounded from behind her and she turned to see yet another Auraling about to strike. Several more were crawling towards her as she swung her tail at the closest Auraling.

An unnatural howl came from the creature as her tail blade sliced through its torso. It fell to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. She accidentally breathed that in two and she coughed. She looked back up and found five more Auralings crawling towards her. Cynder opened her maw and a strong gust of wind sent them flying across the arena.

"Cynder, help!"

Cynder turned, hearing that familiar voice, and saw Spyro getting held down by several of the creatures.

"Spyro! I'm coming."

Cynder jumped, using her wings to control her direction, and landed next to Spyro just as an Auraling slashed its sharp claws across Spyro's throat. Red blood gushed out of the wound.

"No, Spyro, you can't be dead."

Cynder looked around her, all four of the guardians were in the arena, getting overwhelmed by the Auralings, even Sparx was fighting desperately. They were all fighting for her and one by one each died with long cuts at their throats.

The Auralings started to advance towards her, more and more seemed to keep appearing when she wasn't looking. Her worst fear was coming true, everyone she knew, everyone that had helped her was dying because she couldn't help them, and now, she was going to die too.

Cynder closed her eyes and curled into a ball as the Auralings came closer. She was scared and fearful of these creatures, they seemed to never stop spawning and no matter what she did, she couldn't defeat them all, not when the guardians and Spyro couldn't.

Cynder felt like screaming, screaming at the world for being so unfair, first she was taken captive before she was born and was corrupted by Malefor, then after that, everyone who didn't know her personally would blame her for doing things she had no control over. She wanted to scream at all the apes who had tormented her and made her life a living hell.

Auralings grabbed hold of her and started holding her still. She opened her eyes, they were an angry red colour. An Auraling walked towards her, its claws were sharper than knives as they gleamed in front of her. A scream built up in her throat, building in intensity. The Auraling in front got ready to slit her throat when the scream inside burst forth from her open maw.

The whole world seemed to vibrate as a red dome spread from her, pushing back all the Auralings and turned them into black smoke that spiraled into the sky. Only one Auraling was left, the one that was right in front of her. Red energy held it down as Cynder stepped up to it, her tail raised beside her. The Auraling looked up at her helplessly, fear shone from its light bulb eyes. She brought her tail down into its chest, with a gurgling cry the creature went limp and the dimmed.

"Outstanding fight, absolutely great," Scratch called out to everyone in the arena.

It started off with one but soon all the apes started cheering for her. The gates to the arena opened and several apes rushed in. They held pointed spears and ushered her out. Cynder allowed them to, like last time she was suddenly tired from her brief outburst of elemental magic. They took her to the same cell as last time and locked the door. Cynder slumped down on the ground and closed her eyes. Heavy footsteps approached her cell and reluctantly she opened one eye. Skaab stood outside her door and slid a bowl of food to her.

"Well done, we haven't seen anyone beat one of them Auralings. You won't need to fight tomorrow, we have another new contestant." Scratch drawled to her.

Skaab walked away and she closed her eye. After she had dispatched with the last Auraling, her fears had lessened and gone back to normal yet she couldn't get the image of Spyro held by them out of her mind, she hoped that never happened again.

**Hope you enjoyed and want to read more. This chapter may have sounded quite repetitive and you may be thinking that I'm going to have her unlock all her powers in different arena fights, don't worry I won't. I would like to give a shout out to AquillaPrime. They are currently writing a story called ' Prelude: Reality of two ' and I recommend you go read it. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.**


	5. Spyro

**Father's away for a driving licence thing so I got another spare day to fill. In this chapter… I ain't gonna spoil it.**

Chapter 5: Spyro

"Cynder help, please," Spyro called from the room ahead.

Cynder rushed to the room, bodies of dragons littered the ground. They ranged from adults to mere kids. In the middle of the room, Spyro was chained to the ground by mystical green links. The sound of wind on wings made her look behind her to see a midnight black dragon glide down to her, to Cynder's horror, it was what she looked like when corrupted by Malefor.

"Cynder," her older self purred to her, "nice to see you finally made it."

Cynder backed away, towards Spyro and her sanity.

"What are you?"

"I am you, except stronger, locked away inside you by that foul creature behind you."

Cynder glanced back to see Spyro squirming in his bonds. She turned back to stare at the terror of the skies.

"What are all these bodies?"

"These are the dragons you have slain when you were stronger, you could do it again."

Had she really killed this many dragons, this many of her own kind? She really was a monster, not just for ignoring Spyro, but also murdering her own kind. She deserved to be locked away in Convexity with Malefor.

"I have a gift for you. You've done half the work to restore yourself to your former glory and so I will give you this to aid you." Her adult form slid a golden, ruby-encrusted goblet filled with a clear liquid.

A strange sound from Spyro caused her to look at him. The bonds holding him suddenly tightened as he squirmed futilely in them.

"No, you are not me, I will never be you. I may have once been you, but I will no longer think of myself as you."

"If you don't, Spyro will die."

"You wouldn't, you couldn't."

A malevolent laugh reverberated throughout the room.

Cynder couldn't let Spyro die, not after what she had done, if it would save his life she would drink the liquid. She tentatively reached out for the cup, the other Cynder looked down at her with interest.

"Cynder, don't drink it, you don't need to," Spyro called to her through gritted teeth.

She pulled the cup towards her, "Sorry Spyro, its the only way."

Cynder leaned down and took a small sip of the liquid, it had a acidic taste as it went down her throat. Pain suddenly shot through her body as the substance reached her stomach.

Cynder cried out in pain, "What is this?"

Cynder doubled over and stared up at her adult form, an evil smile looked down at her.

"It's just a little bit of poison, to bring out your inner poison."

The whole room started to shake, the room and its contents started turning into a colourless vapour.

"What's going on?" Cynder looked around but couldn't find the other, older Cynder.

"I'm sorry for the deception but I'm sure you'll forgive me soon," The voice that now filled the air was one she knew very well and wished she had never heard of at all.

"Malefor, leave me alone."

Cynder writhed on the ground as the poison took its toll, she felt like she was melting from the inside out.

"Don't worry, the poison won't kill you. I'm just bringing out your power over poison so that you can once again become the terror of the skies and fight alongside me. I have forgiven you and my minions are coming to retrieve you just as we speak."

His words barely registered in her mind because of the intense pain in her stomach, it was almost as bad as when he used to transform her. Her eyes closed instinctively as the pain increased briefly. After that burst of pain, it started to subside. It grew weaker and as it finally disappeared, she opened her eyes again.

They were a neon green colour.

"Good, now you are three quarters away from the powerful general you were."

Cynder was breathing hard from that experience, she looked around until she found a odd floating black cloud. The room was all gone and she was standing on nothing, yet she wasn't falling either. It was all a bright white colour around her.

With more confidence than she actually had, Cynder called towards the cloud, "Leave me alone, I am not going to fight for you ever again, I've caused enough pain and suffering as it is, you've shown me that."

"You are and never will be in control. I choose your fate, how you live and how you grow. You are for now and ever, a servant of mine, made to do my bidding no matter what."

"Leave me alone!"

Anger built up within her, she was done being scared, a green implosion spread forth from her and she blacked out.

Cynder woke to her door opening. Skaab towered over her and Scratch called from above, "No more rest for you I'm sorry to say, We have a very special Contestant to verse you. Now follow obediently. Skaab took off at a brisk pace and Cynder could only trail behind him. Her dream still had her spellbound and wondering if it really happened or if it was just a dream and nothing else. Skaab took her to the arena like every other time and left her standing, waiting for the door to open.

Apes were already cheering. Cynder could see specks of purple through the gate and she while she didn't want to get her hopes up too much, she thought it could be Spyro.

The gate rumbled open, tears of joy came to her eyes as she recognised Spyro standing in the middle of the arena. Cynder stopped herself from rushing over and hugging him, she saw all the apes staring at them apprehensively. She walked towards him, making it look like they were going to fight. Once she got close enough, she edged sidewards.

"Cynder, I'm not going to fight you."

His voice was like the sun, she needed it to survive.

"No, I don't want to fight you either, I'm just stalling for time until I can think of what to do."

A barely audible whistling noise came from above and before she could even move, a small explosion erupted beside her and sent her flying. She hit the ground hard, her head banging the wooden floor. Darkness enveloped her.

**Don't have much to say, just leave any feedback you have if you want and hope you enjoyed.**


	6. Shadows

**Hello, I'm trying out a new layout for the story to make it easier to read and understand. First, I'll have lines showing the start and end of the actual story part (so you don't have to hear/read me rambling on) and second I'm going to use italics instead of the weird apostrophe thing that I've done in previous stories and chapters. Now please enjoy this chapter even though it's kind of small.**

Chapter 6: Shadows

Cynder groaned inwardly as consciousness returned to her. Her head throbbed with the steady beats of unknown wings. Air whistled past her and it was night time, at least the ground was dark and she could see no light. Cynder twisted her neck while being held by a strange winged creature with long claw-like talons and looked behind her, which was the way her captors were taking her and saw a strange looking mountain with a radioactive green coloured liquid pouring out of several large holes and hundreds of smaller ones. A bright column of red light pierced the top of the sky. Fear blossomed inside her as she recognised this place, it was where Gaul lived and made base, it was a place where evil resided in every nook and cranny.

It was the mountain of Malefor.

Cynder frantically struggled against the creature holding her, she couldn't go there, anywhere but there. They would do horrible things to her, especially since she used to be _The Terror of the Skies_.

_My minions will come and pick you up_, Malefor hadn't been lying when he told her that. She didn't know how he or his minions knew her exact location but it must be some dark magic thing that Malefor could do, also probably used when he appeared in her dreams.

Cynder reached into herself, trying to activate the power within to stop her from getting taken to the mountain. A spark of energy pulsed inside then just as quickly winked out. She probed again and felt the connection between her and her power grow stronger. Her body started to glow slightly in the fading darkness as beads of poison seeped out from under her scales like sweat.

As soon as the poison took affect, the creature dropped her as if she were on fire.

Cynder plummeted from the sky, very close to the base of the mountain. She couldn't fly, instead she opened her wings to slow her decent. She manipulated the wind around her to help her with the task.

The ground started to race up to her so she increased her energy output in wind and managed to slow herself enough that as her feet touched the hard ground, she only stumbled slightly, half from momentum and half from fatigue at the energy consumed.

Cynder blinked spots out of her eyes as screeches from above told her they had spotted her and were coming after her. A horn sounded somewhere near the mountain while taloned creatures swooped out of the sky to grab her. Hard thudding came from close by as apes searched for her in the rocky crevices and caves.

Cynder ran under a small overhang to keep her out of view of the winged creatures. Her heart was beating at twice the normal speed as adrenaline raced through her veins. She didn't know what to do, she wished she could just disappear, turn invisible and hide.

The apes were getting closer, panic built up within her. Soon they would catch her and take her to the mountain.

When she was young, she would sometimes get scared of the darkness that surrounded her. She would close her eyes tightly and imagine she was somewhere safe, bright and warm.

Cynder did that now. She imagined that she was safe back at the temple, Spyro by her side his wing draped over her back, pulling her beside him. The sun was down and the stars vivid in the sky.

Tears started to well up in her closed eyes and slowly roll down her cheeks as she remembered that moment. It was the first night she was herself, completely in control and feeling horrible with guilt. He had continuously reassured her over and over that it wasn't her fault. Now, she would never see Spyro, she would get taken into the mountain and Malefor would awaken. He would either kill her or even worse corrupt her again and make her do his bidding.

The apes sounded like they were around the next bend. Cynder opened her eyes, she would fight until her last breath. Her eyes were midnight black, no iris or anything, like her pupils had expanded to encompass her whole eye. Her body suddenly felt colder than usual, like a gust of wind had blown straight through her.

The apes rounded the bend and came closer. Cynder waited until they spotted her and sounded the alarm. Surprisingly, the apes just carried on towards the mountain like they hadn't seen her or didn't care.

Cynder let out a pent up breath that she didn't realise she was holding. Why had the apes not caught her?

Cynder looked down at herself and gasped, she had turned transparent. Her body seemed to have dissolved into air as she couldn't see it. She started to move and found a slight movement, not where her body should be but in the shadows cast by the rock overhead. Once the danger of the apes had passed and her adrenaline had weared off, she realised that her energy was dwindling quickly. Whatever she was doing to infuse with the shadow was sapping her energy fast.

Cynder cut off the energy source. Her body seemed to materialise before her eyes. The expended energy took its toll. Black spots danced before her eyes and she wearily closed them. Cynder slumped onto the ground and felt herself drifting into darkness. Part of her said that she had to escape, that she shouldn't sleep here. Fatigue blocked out that part of her and she gave in to the comforting embrace of darkness.

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Feedback is greatly appreciated so thank you to the ones who give them, not to just this story but to any story. It takes only a few minutes but can make that writers day with it. Until next time...**


	7. Finale

**Believe it or not but this is the last chapter for this story and possibly the last chapter for the TLoC series as a whole. It's been fun writing and even more so reading your comments and praise. Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 7: Finale

Something was poking her underbelly uncomfortably. Cynder opened her eyes, she wasn't in the same place as before, that much was certain. She seemed to be in a cave, looking down she found a bronze sheet of metal, that had lots of scratch marks all over it, firmly stapled into the uneven ground. Stuck on the top of the bronze, a small hoop or ring, possibly so they could pull it up again. The only light source came from a glowing green liquid that spilled from several holes in the wall and ran out of the cave.

Cynder stood up and wearily approached the liquid. Cynder tripped before she got close. She looked behind her to see what tripped her and found a green chain made of energy connecting with the ring on the bronze sheet and her right hind leg.

Cynder walked back to the bronze plate and found that the chain disappeared. She tried to pull it out but wasn't strong enough, She tried to break it using her various elements but it seemed resistant to everything.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Startled, Cynder turned to see an ape glaring down at her. It stepped closer to her, holding a chain with a manacle.

"Hold steady now."

Cynder obediently did as she was told, she couldn't fight him nor could she escape even if she did. The Ape clipped it around her neck and started walking out the cave, pulling the chain with him.

They travelled down several passageways until finally reaching the heart of the mountain. Purple light fell from a hole in the roof. Statues of dragons were placed around the column of light, all facing inwards and at their feet, green fire illuminated her surroundings. On the far side of the circular room, flanked by apes stretching around the diameter of the room, was Gaul, sitting on a high-backed throne.

With an evil laugh, he welcomed her, "So the Terror of the skies has come back and just in time. Soon, the eternal night shall begin and our master will return."

The apes in the room started to cheer.

Gaul continued, "Seeing as you've been such a faithful servant, Cynder, I'm sure he will take you back, but if he doesn't, you will get to have the honour of being the first to fall by his hand along with that purple whelpling."

"You can't do this Gaul." Her desperate pleas had no effect.

"Chain her to the wall."

Cynder pulled against the chain but to no avail, as she was slowly dragged over to the far wall, the apes' laughter followed her. The chain around her neck was fastened to the wall and the ape walked off, leaving her to do nothing sit and watch as Gaul and the other apes talked on the other side of the room.

Cynder lay down with her head on her foreleg and waited.

"Cynder!"

The call came from far away, she looked up from her daydreaming to see Gaul walking over to her.

"Cynder, I shall give you one chance and one chance only. The purple whelpling has been spotted approaching quickly so I will give you the chance to fight him. If you can defeat him, you will be accepted again, otherwise, if you fail this task, I will see to it personally that you be the first to perish under our master's reign."

Gaul stalked away before she could ask anything and another ape came up to her and unlocked the manacle. It felt good to have it off. Then left as well, leaving her to again go back to waiting. This time, waiting for Spyro to show up and destroy Gaul.

The beating of wings and the familiar voice brought her out of her reverie and made her heart race faster, he was here, right above her. The fires that had been burning before were extinguished and the room was pitch black. Spyro glided down into the room, narrowly avoiding the light, and landed facing away from her. Only the light from Sparx showed her where he was. She had to make a show of fighting Spyro or else Gaul would not trust her as much, only when she started fighting Spyro would she be able to catch Gaul by surprise.

Cynder watched Spyro creep forward, towards where she remembered Gaul's throne to be.

The green fires suddenly blazed to life, lighting the entire room and also Gaul sitting calmly on his throne. Gaul picked up his staff and a strange green beam shot from it and struck Spyro. Spyro's head drooped in exhaustion.

"Go now while he's distracted."

Cynder spun around to find an ape pointing towards Spyro, she understood what he was talking about. Cynder slowly made her way towards him, making sure to make no noise. She was only a few metres from him when she suddenly ran and jumped at him, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Spyro rolled away from her and got up as she did.

"Cynder, you don't have to do this, remember, you have a choice."

She snarled and pounced at him again, they both went down in a tangle and Cynder whispered to him.

"I don't want to fight you, try and line me up with the staff."

The two dragons rolled away from each other and started to square off, circling each other for an advantage. Spyro's back was to the staff when Cynder suddenly rushed at him, like the other two times she jumped, this time, she jumped past Spyro and at Gaul with his staff. She was about to knock the staff out of his hands when something grabbed her around the neck. Gaul's other hand had caught her.

"That was your last chance!"

Gaul threw her at the wall. She hit it badly and her head snapped forward from the impact. A headache started immediately and her vision started to blur. She tried to rise but none of her muscles obeyed her and her eyelids closed.

"Freedom, soon I shall be free and I will have my vengeance at last."

A voice echoed around her. Darkness surrounded her and she couldn't see anything, yet she knew exactly who was talking, she had heard his voice many times in her dreams already, lurking in her mind and tearing apart her sanity.

"Leave me alone, get out of my head, I'm no servant of yours anymore."

"But you are, even if you don't like it nor want it, you shall always be my slave, Cynder."

Malefor laughed malevolently, "Even as we speak, the ape is taking care of the purple dragon and I shall be unopposed as I do what must be done and you shall be by my side the whole way. That's why I chose you, Cynder."

Her name echoed in the darkness, but it didn't go away, in fact, it was getting louder.

"Cynder, Cynder, wake up, Cynder."

A new voice, yet still familiar.

"Cynder, wake up, Spyro might be in danger."

She opened her eyes, a bright yellow light shone right into her eyes. She groaned and blinked several times as Sparx drifted away from her.

"Phew, I thought we had lost you for a second there."

"Where's Spyro?"

"Spyro and the hairy guy both fell in that hole over there when he hit the ground too hard, what should we do?"

Cynder looked to where Sparx was pointing and saw a huge hole right where the purple light was. She headed to the edge of the hole and peered down it.

"I wonder what's happening?"

Sparx replied with, "Spyro, you okay, buddy?"

Something raced past her head and she looked to see Spyro in the purple light writhing in it. His scales were dark and his eye glowed with power.

The purple light was doing something to him, something that wasn't right, "Spyro, stop!"

"I… I can't."

She hesitated for a split second before doing something crazy.

She jumped.

She jumped at Spyro and pushed him out of the light. She glided down to the ground as he struggled on the ground. Dust rained down on her and bits of the roof started to crumble from the power released by Spyro.

"What have I done?" His voice sounded genuinely guilty that she instantly felt like comforting him, little did she know it was what she sounded like to him when her past was brought up.

"It's alright Spyro, we're here for you, your friends."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't control it, it was too strong."

The roof started to collapse, bits of masonry fell from the roof and the threat of their exit being blocked was big. The purple light was gone and only several fires still burned.

"Now's our chance to leave, we need to leave now or the roof will fall on us."

Spyro tried to rise, "just go... "

"No, Spyro, you are coming with us, we aren't leaving you behind." And she meant it, after everything he did for her, leaving him now in his time of need would be a hundred times worse than what she had done while under Malefor's control.

With a great heave, Spyro pushed himself to his feet. Something above gave way and Cynder just looked to see a chunk of rock fall in front of the exit.

"We're trapped…"

They were trapped, trapped in a room collapsing on itself, maybe after death, her spirit could be free.

"Get close to me, now."

Cynder turned to Spyro, she couldn't do anything anyway, Cynder walked over to Spyro. He raised a wing for her like he could protect her from the events to come, no one could stop them from getting crushed. She slipped underneath his wing, eyes shut tight, hopefully, she wouldn't feel any pain. An odd humming filled the air, getting louder by the moment, she could see light even through closed eyelids… this was death, was it?

Spyro whispered beside her ear in a gentle and caring tone, "Cynder, its going to be alright."

**I know this ends on an almost unbearable cliffhanger but this is the end of my Legend of Cynder series for now. I may possibly do a Dawn of the dragon story in the future but I probably won't as during the game you can play as her. I will be writing a song about TLoS but I'm going to have it in my next story. More on my next story, I will get straight to writing it as its been in my mind for quite some time. I cannot tell you what happens or even have much of a summary as I want the plot to be unsuspecting and surprising. Once I post the first chapter, I will put a link below if you want to read it or following and favouriting me will mean that you can find all my stories and be up to date on any future stories. I hope that you enjoyed my story (why else would you be reading it) and I hope to find out that your reading my future ones as well, oh and thanks to everyone who has been supporting me with this series and just writing in general.**


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